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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

TDN Newsletter: 12-17-14 Holiday


December 17, 2014
Dear Gardening Friends,
How can it be that this year is nearly over? I honestly don’t know where it’s gone. It was a nice one in spite of weather difficulties, and we really look forward to gardening with you all in 2015.
Now, not to distract you from all the lovely “Cool Season” varieties you are hopefully growing, or will finally get started growing any minute now, but it’s also time (for us, at least) to think ahead to everybody’s favorite: Heirloom Tomatoes!
I’ve just completed the 2015 Tomato Line-Up, after much research, studying Survey Results, hair-tearing, and prayers to the Tomato Gods, and I’m very excited about it! I made sure to include several varieties that have “Heat Tolerance” as part of their profile, as I know, for our Market customers especially, this was a big issue last summer. I also found 3 new “Purple/Blacks” that sound incredible, 5 new and exciting “Reds”, as well as 3 new “Pinks”, 2 new “Yellow/Orange” and a new “Paste” to go with our other beloved, returning Paste varieties from last year. Also, 6 varieties from previous seasons are coming back by popular demand!
Save These Dates!!
Our Annual Spring Kick-Off Sale & Food Drive
(benefiting Los Angeles Food Bank)


Plan to join us on Saturday & Sunday,
March 14th & 15, 2015
at the Two Dog Home Nursery.
More Details to follow!!

EXTRA, EXTRA,
READ ALL ABOUT IT!!


The big Tomato Page will debut
on New Year’s Day!!!

What a nice way to savor the Ultimate “Stay-in-your-jammies-day”! Watch the Rose Parade, and then read up on our 51 varieties and begin making your plans!!
________

Tomato Pre-Orders will begin
on New Year’s Day as well!!

I’m hoping by offering Pre-Ordering a full month earlier than in previous years, I’ll be able to more accurately schedule the seed sowing based on what’s “trending”.
Strawberries…at long last!
Many of you know how much I struggled to find Strawberries this past year. I think one of the Big Box chains must have purchased all but the very few we were able to get our hands on! But it’s a new year, and we’ve taken the bull by the horns, so to speak, and ordered 1,400 “crowns” to transplant up ourselves! The varieties we selected are:
  • Sequoia
  • Chandler
  • Seascape (great for hotter areas)
  • and the lovely, wild Mara de Bois
Strawberries will also
be available to Pre-Order beginning New Year’s Day
as well and will be ready
to pick up at our
Spring Kick-Off Sale!

It’s quite unlikely I will be able to re-order,
so please don’t miss out!
Calling all Rhubarb
and Asparagus Lovers!!!



FOR A VERY LIMITED TIME, we are offering dormant crowns of “Victoria Cherry” Rhubarb and two varieties of Asparagus - Farmers Friend and Jersey Knight. Unfortunately, we don’t personally have space for Asparagus (with the Nursery taking up our entire property! hahaha), but I do plan to grow Rhubarb in a big Smart Pot for my Mama!!
Don’t miss it, or you’ll have to wait until NEXT December!
You can order online through PayPal, send us a check, or see us at the Market; we expect to receive them by Mid-January, and you MUST pick up your order within ONE WEEK and either plant or store in the refrigerator temporarily.
Please NOTE: We do not ship live plants or crowns!!
You can read our “Helpful Guide” about
Growing Asparagus here:


HOW TO GROW
ASPARAGUS
MARKET NEWS:
Head’s Up, La Canada!! We’ve been told we will be returning to our previous Farmers Market location early in January! Yay!!! All of us Vendors have suffered a significant loss of business in the temporary Park location, so we are looking forward to going back!! Watch for us!!
Finally, 2014 for many of us was a difficult year, in many different ways. The one thing I can say about gardening is that it always brings us back to the possibility of happier harvests. I don’t think I could ever be without our garden…besides the wonderful food it provides, greater still is the oasis of calm and mindfulness that it constantly is. Alex and I thank you for your patronage this year, and we wish you all the Happiest Holiday Season and much love and peace in the New Year!
With gratitude,
Jo Anne, Alex, Jake, Lalo & Charlie

Friday, November 14, 2014

TDN Newsletter: 11-14-14

Dear Gardening Friends,

 

How lovely has the Fall weather finally become!! We hope you are enjoying it, too!  Our garden is really thriving, even though it had to endure those last two heat waves.  Here’s our Chard, out in full sun, just flourishing in an EarthBox. Don’t delay any longer if you’ve been waiting…the longer, cooler nights and shorter days are just what the Fall veggies LOVE!  
 

I’m happy to report that, after the repeated heat waves and repeated mouse attacks in the nursery, we’re also finally getting our inventory up to speed.  And boy, oh boy, just in the nick of time!

You're All Invited!!

 

Our Fall Sale was so (surprisingly) successful (thank you all very much!), we thought we’d give this a go:

 

Please join us for..

 

“The Prelude-to-Small-Business-Saturday-‘Green-Friday’-Holiday-Sale!”


Friday, November 28th

from 10am until 3pm

 

at the Two Dog Home Nursery

914 S. Cloverdale Ave.

Los Angeles  90036

 

Everything will be 10% Off!!!  

Street Parking is available…bring your friends, but not your dogs, please!  

 

We hope to see you there… and YES, we will still be at both our Farmers Markets that weekend!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO OUR FACEBOOK EVENT

The Tomato Survey is Now Closed!
 

 

 

We want to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Annual Heirloom Tomato Survey!  You have no idea how important your opinions are!  I’ve taken them very close to heart and am already working on next year’s line-up. 
 

Be sure to watch for your FREE HEIRLOOM TOMATO COUPON in the January Newsletter…just print and bring it to the Spring Sale or to one of our Markets once Tomatoes debut!  Also, one lucky Participant will receive a complete EarthBox Kit to plant their Free Tomato in!! 

 

          

Friday, September 12, 2014

TDN Newsletter: 9-12-14

September 24, 2014


Dear Gardening Friends,
Happy Fall!!  The nights (if not the days, yet!) are getting cooler and the days shorter.  I always say this is a short season, but if we start now, we can easily do a couple rounds of all our Fall favorites before it’s Tomato Time again.  We’re planting out some of our first Kales, Broccoli, Cauliflowers and Collards in the garden today.
We’re still harvesting Summer, too; the second set of Tomatoes are producing, and we’re still getting some Cucumbers and Beans.  We harvested a big Smart Pot of Yukon Gold Potatoes last week and today the last of the Sugar Baby Watermelons.  The garden looks like heck, but I know in a month, everything will be new again!

 
Glass Gem “Grandbabies”!
 
The Glass Gem Popcorn we grew this Summer from seeds saved from our initial planting last year turned out great! I didn’t know what to expect since we did all that hand-pollinating, but the ears were amazingly colorful.  It was supremely gratifying to see the second generation results! I hope those of you who grew it from our seedlings this year had fun.
Garlic and Shallots...
 
We just received our Garlic and French Red Shallots, and oh boy, are they big and wonderful this year!  I’ve already chosen ours, and with the help of my Mama and her Caregiver, we got them all bagged up and ready to come to the Markets this weekend!!  Remember, they are always one-time ordering for me, so don’t miss out!!
Important Dates & Updates!

So speaking of the Markets… here are some important dates:

We WILL be in both our Markets THIS weekend,
 September 27 & 28th.

Then we’re leaving for Argentina for Alex’s Mom’s 80th Birthday…
he’ll be gone 2 weeks, but I’m only going for 1 week…
I haven’t been in over 8 years, and I love my “Suegra”!!

So we will NOT be in either Market
for two weeks straight,

October 4th, 5th, 11th & 12th.

______


CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO GO TO THE FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

 

However, we’ve decided to expand our Annual Fall Kick-Off Sale to the whole weekend of October 11th and 12th, here at our home-based Nursery.

Come either day, bring your gardening friends, and enjoy a 10% discount on absolutely everything. We’ll be open from 10am until 3pm.


 
Then we’re back on our regular Market Schedule starting October 18th & 19th.

P.S. Head’s Up, La Canada Customers: starting October 4th, the Farmers Market is moving across the street to Memorial Park for a couple months. We don’t know yet where our tents will be situated, but we have asked to have a curb-side location like we currently have, so we can easily load up your soils, trees, EarthBoxes, etc!!
 

Speaking of Trees...


Finally, the Little Cado (true dwarf Avocado) RETURNS!!  We’ll have them this weekend!  YAY, we’ve missed them!!!
 
Fully Updated Fall Page...
 
With the awful heatwave we just had, we took a “soft launch” approach to Fall seedlings, so not 100% of everything is available just yet, but most is, and nearly everything will be ready by the Sale!! Have a look at our updated Fall Veggies page on the website to see everything we’re offering…



That should do it for now, friends.
We do hope to see you soon at the Market or at our Sale. 

Wishing us all Happy Fall Harvests, and as always, many thanks!

Jo Anne, Alex, Lalo, Jake
and (fostering, still) Charlie!!
Copyright © 2014 Two Dog Organic Nursery, All rights reserved. 

Friday, August 15, 2014

TDN Newsletter: 8-15-2014

Fall Scheudle and Remembering a Friend
View this email in your browser
Dear Gardening Friends,
We’ve arrived at the Dog Days of Summer, and we’re coming to that “in-between” place in the Garden where it’s-getting-late-but-is-still-too-early…
Just this week, we’ve begun to sow the very first Fall babies. And I’ve ordered all the Garlic & Shallots and Onion & Leek Seedlings. We’ve got a dozen or so exciting New items this year including Golden Snow Peas from India, Purple Pak Choi and Red Turnips from Japan! The Fall Veggies page on the website will be updated soon to include all the new varieties. 
 
          

 
Fall Veggie Market Debut!!

September 20th and 21st
Annual Fall Kick-Off Sale!

October 12th
10am until 3pm at our Home Nursery
In Memoriam...
 
With great sadness, I want to acknowledge the passing of a very dear, 40-year-friend, Jeff Calcara…who in a certain way, most of you “knew” too. Jeff was the architect of our Two Dog Nursery website, which has now received close to 30,000 visits. Not a week goes by when someone doesn’t compliment the site for its informative and colorful content, but also for it’s ease of navigation. I spent countless hours working side by side with Jeff striving to achieve just that…simple, inspiring, user-friendly content. He also taught me how to create the variety signage we use at the Markets.
 

Earlier, we also developed the site for our other business, La Paloma Design, Inc. (lapalomadesign.com) We had not worked on the La Paloma site for several years because of the rapid growth of the Nursery, but his work was always excellent.

But before any of us even had computers, Jeff and I became friends in the mid-70s when I was living in Encinitas and attending UCSD. We were both part of a music group, which I eventually managed, once “real” singers came on board. We were a very close-knit group, including Jeff’s beloved wife of almost 40 years, Virginia. Together they had a beautiful life and 2 truly outstanding children, and most recently, their very first Grandson.
 
Jeff continued with music, got his Masters from San Diego State, studied Classical Guitar with the world-renown Romero Brothers, did countless hours of volunteer service, was an absolute technical wiz and devotee of all-things-Apple!

Earlier this month he lost his year-long battle with Oral Cancer (which took my Dad in 2008), and his Memorial Service is this Sunday, the 17th, in Encinitas. I will be going to the Service, and Alex (excellent hubby that he is) will cover the Westlake Village Market by himself. We both will be in La Canada tomorrow, though.

During the last year, Jeff recorded these two guitar pieces, the second being an original composition (he composed more than 60 Classical works.) If you’re so inclined, have a listen, and perhaps send him a smile next time you peruse the Two Dog website.

Over The Rainbow performed by Jeff Calcara


Prelude in C, Composed and Performed by Jeff Calcara
That’s it for now. We hope to see you soon, and as always,

Happy Harvests!

Jo Anne, Alex, Jake & Lalo

 

Copyright © 2014 Two Dog Organic Nursery, All rights reserved.